Francois Borgel, a case maker in business since 1880, was undeniably a pioneer in the field of waterproof cases. Most vintage watch collectors know the initials F.B. with an ideogram of the key, the marquee stamped on Borgel designs. By extension, scores call F.B.-stamped cases „Borgel.” That is – in most cases – outright wrong. …
Lately, I haven’t been very active on forums, focusing most of my watch community activities on Instagram – where you can find me as @mikethewis. What chased me out of forums was the fair share of drama on every one of them. The more people get used to each other, the more drama ultimately appears. …
During the Second World War, scores of watch manufacturers produced watches for the German military. Some were recognizable brands, such as Zenith, Longines, Mimo (Girard-Perregaux), Glycine, and Doxa. The German military specification All standard-issue watches had the same core features. The general service watch had to be equipped with a shock protection device, a highly …
Justifying my approach to collecting watches requires a trip down memory lane and some soul searching. For some years now, I’ve seen a trend for small collections. A three-watch collection, a five-watch collection. Melvin and I have argued about collecting more times than I can count. Personally, I like my large collection. It doesn’t come any …
Like all technical features of watches, the choice of case material has changed over time. Some materials that were once popular have become uncommon. Some have gained popularity over time. And some were and are popular. In this article, I’ll focus on various precious metals. Silver Silver has been the most common case material, ever …
